Is it possible to survive in a winter wilderness shelter in -21 weather?

XAlbertaWarriorWomenX

XAlbertaWarriorWomenX

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Hello there fellow people! :)

I know this may crazy, but is it possible to make some type of Survival Shelter(s) in the bush, im up in northwestern ontario, canada, the weather has been pretty cold, Its -14°C, but it FEELS LIKE-21
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but wondering with the right gear, stuff in the bush and a proper fire made inside/outside my wilderness winter wood shelter, im hoping I can live and stay in with a friend even in -21 weather.
 
Id imagine with some sort of earthern-insulated teepee it would be more that possible, if able to have a fire inside without suffocating (plenty of shelter designs which will accommodate this).

Biggest issues I would see with this are: Need for GOOD winter gear, water freezing, wind, Bears...
 
I spent a winter in an uninsulated shed and it was all about coveralls, staying dry, and hand warmers. Oh and a way to heat water to drink. I always kept some in a pot since my jugs would freeze. Eating fatty foods before bed helps keep you warm while you sleep, even just some olive oil. I did have some warm places to be during the day, so that definitely helped.

I heard of a kid just completely covering his bus with hay bales and doing fine with that and a heater haha, but I’m guessing you don’t have access to any of that.
 
That's another thing I would not mind trying out. There's packages of Driveway Heat which the stuff itself can keep you warm, if not, sweating buckets! Temperatures can reach above 120-F.

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I have done winter camping a few times. I use genuine military surplus (not the Made in China crap) cold weather gear i.e. sleeping bag, military cold weather boots, etc.

100% wool socks and wool scarf. Cotton kills, you need wool clothing.

Best too to purchase outside construction work clothes, they are designed for construction workers who work long hours in the cold. Avoid clothes that are sold at sporting good stores, those clothes are only good for two hours or less for outdoor activities.

Drink plenty of hot cocoa too!

I have heard and haven't tried it yet and if is true that U.S. Navy Seals before doing diving training or missions that they drink grape juice, it suppose to keep the body warm. Maybe someone can correct me on that, that is what I heard so not sure if true or not.

The secret is to keep yourself warm, stay away from alcohol, drugs and caffeine. And best to shelter yourself from the winds.
 
Yes, It's very possible. You should read MORS KOCHANSKI'S BUSHCRAFT BOOK and check out Sigma 3 vids on shelters. Totally legit information. Making a tipi with pine boughs or making a super shelter would be preferable. SO MANY variables involved. I'd go for tipi with pine boughs and a fire pit inside. Also, It def helps to have quality gear. Stay away from alcohol, your chances of hypothermia are greatly increased if you drink- don't do it.
I'll ask a buddy about the grape juice- he's a former SEAL.
 
Ray Mears is a don.Handy little tip about shelter building and build of sweat then freezing etc
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Have you tried any groups on Reddit such as survival/hunting/bushcraft?
 
No experience with that from my side.

My coldest nights were about 10°F/-12°C in a doorway in Bristol without a fire, though.

The doorway was dry, no wind and I had 3 sleeping bags and a blanket.

My setup was: cardboard first, then my summer sleeping bag as additional isulation. Then a warm sleeping bag, another warm sleeping bag inside it and then the blanket inside it. Kept all my clothes on, a woolen hat and gloves. So I was cozy warm, in the early morning I often woke up and had to vent a bit cause I was sweating.

-30°C/-21°F is another thing, for sure. But if you have a proper shelter plus a woodburner or some other means to do a fire (plus enough wood/fuel) it should be doable.

I mean, people survived like that in the history when houses were not much more then what we would call a shelter nowadays. ;)
 
Addendum:

Also, as other people already stated, you'll need warm, sturdy clothes and enough clothing that you can change into something else in case your normal clothing gets wet. Have some emergency rations of food and water.

I would also suggest to have to means of communication, like a mobile phone and a power bank/battery/solar panel charger/whatever to charge it. Just in case to call for help if something unexpected happens.

Make sure that your fireplace is done properly. Carbon monoxide poisoning is deadly.

All the best!

:)
 
it is totally possible to live in a shelter in the wilderness in harsh winter weather -but unless you are wearing high quality mountaineering clothing you will spend most of your daylight hours collecting wood for a fire strong enough to keep you warm the whole time - this is not always easy with thick snow covering everything.... I live in a draughty old trailer with a wood burner - we had heavy snow and -15 temperatures for a couple of weeks last winter - I burnt a mountain of firewood and still had to wear thermals and a hat 24 hours a day ! it was fucking hardcore and that was for a short period of time in a proper shelter....

If you are going to do this you need to get seriously educated about winter survival and kitted out as best you can afford - I'd also take at least one other person - if you make a serious fuck up at -21 alone in the wilderness you will probably die...
 
roguetrader said:
we had heavy snow and -15 temperatures for a couple of weeks last winter
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Was that around late February? I was in Bristol at this time and it was the first time I saw snow there. (And it seemed to be the first time Bristolians saw snow as well, since all the public transport (busses) were suspended for three days and shops/banks were kept close "due to severe weather" ... a few inches of snow, lol.)

Anyway, I layered all the clothes I had, including a pair of woman's leggins (<- pro tip) underneath my trousers. Had a warm woolen hat and woolen gloves plus thermal gloves.

So big "thank you!" to the people from "Feed the homeless" in Bristol and other nice people who provided me and others with warm stuff!!! :)

Without the hat and the gloves and the leggins and the sneakers I got to replace my fucked fake chucks it would have been much harder!
 
@Anagor - we had two heavy falls of snow, both early March I think... Devon got it particularly badly for some reason - it was the deepest snow I've ever seen in England without a doubt - 6 foot drifts and country roads impassable for days !
 
roguetrader said:
we had two heavy falls of snow, both early March I think... Devon got it particularly badly for some reason - it was the deepest snow I've ever seen in England without a doubt - 6 foot drifts and country roads impassable for days !
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Ouch, well that's definitely more then what I experienced in Bristol. There it was really only a few inches of snow (maybe 3 or 4) ... at least in city centre, more perhaps in the outskirts.

Early March I was back in Germany already ...

Can imagine that was quite a challenge to stay in a trailer then and a challenge for everyone especially in a place where people are not used to (that amount) of snow.
 
My buddy said they never mentioned grape juice in training or otherwise. Although he did say eating something stokes your internal fire and keeps you warm. Avoid sweating as you'll freeze to death or die of hypothermia. Also, try to avoid drinking anything cold as it takes energy for the body to heat it. I'll try to get more info from him but He's pretty quiet and reclusive though.
True story- I once ripped pages out of a Ray Mears survival book to get a fire going. LOL
After i read it of course. haha
 
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